Rohingya settlements in Jammu have always been a bone of contention. But this election season it’s business as usual.
No one is dragging them and running any hate campaign targeting them for posing a security threat to several strategic military installations in and around Jammu.
When this correspondent visited the Kiryani Talab and Bhatindi area in Jammu on Thursday the Rohingya shopkeepers were going about their usual activities to earn their livelihood.
The entire market is run by Rohingyas to sustain a large number of families living in different vacant plots.
The houses in the neighborhood adorned flags of different political parties and a street corner meeting was also going on when this correspondent arrived there. The leader who was making a speech to woo the voters talked about implementing various schemes for the welfare of the masses including improving the condition of the roads. Adequate water and electricity supply and sanitation facilities. When I asked a group of Rohingyas whether anyone was disturbing them in the name of security or otherwise, they unanimously responded negatively. At the same time, they were curious to know the outcome of the elections in the region and which party was most likely to win the elections.
The Bharatiya Janta Party in its election manifesto has made a one-line mention claiming “We will undertake a concerted drive to address illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi settlements in Jammu and Kashmir”.
In contrast, the Congress party has not touched upon this issue.
The regional political parties in the fray, the National Conference and the PDP have also not commented on the ‘contentious’ issue in their election manifestos.
According to a Home Department report tabled in the state assembly on February 2, 2018, “a total number of 6523 Rohingyas were found camping across 39 different locations spread across five districts of Jammu and Kashmir”.
According to this report, “6461 Rohingyas were staying in the Jammu division and 62 in the Kashmir division”.
The majority of Rohingyas (illegal immigrants) camping in Jammu are spread across the Bahu Assembly segment in the Jammu district.
The local activists and politicians, spearheading a campaign in support of their deportation for a long time, often contest these figures claiming a large number of these illegal immigrants are scattered and even their biometrics have not been collected by the security personnel. In December 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir police teams launched a massive crackdown on over three dozen locations across five districts of Jammu province to expose the ‘unholy’ nexus between a large number of facilitators and Rohingyas (illegal immigrants from Myanmar).
During the day more than 10 fresh FIRs were registered by the police, seven in Jammu district alone and one each in Doda, Kishtwar Rajouri, and Poonch districts. Around 40 people were detained for further questioning by the police during these raids.
The Police in the Jammu region have taken action against the facilitators providing shelter to Rohingyas in the Jammu, Kishtwar, Doda, Poonch, and Rajouri districts.
Earlier, the UT administration launched a special verification drive in the first week of March 2021 in the sports stadium in Jammu. At the end of the drive, a total number of 155 Rohingyas were found to be staying illegally in Jammu and all of them were lodged in the holding centre.
According to official sources, more than 250 Rohingyas have been camping in the holding centre out of which 50-60 are children. Protests also staged violent demonstrations inside the detention centre in July 2023 demanding their release at the earliest.
The majority of Rohingyas in Jammu earn their livelihood by doing daily wage jobs and some of them have become scrap dealers. Children support their families by collecting and selling recyclable material, and a few women work as daily wagers in the dry fruit industry, domestic help, daily wage labourers with the contractors of Jammu Municipal Corporation, and in local factories/sweepers in the hotels/guest houses etc.
